78 Results for author: Bob Welch

The King Ranch Isn’t Horsing Around

One of my favorite songwriters, Guy Clark, wrote a tune called “South Coast of Texas.” As with all his work, it’s smart and evocative. The song opens, “The south coast of Texas is a thin slice of life. It’s salty and hard, it is stern as a knife.” I don’t know if Guy Clark ever visited the King Ranch, but ... More

The Ultimate Visitor’s Guide to the WCRR

What time is it? It’s rodeo time! The 23rd Annual World Championship Ranch Rodeo kicks off in Amarillo tonight and runs through Nov. 11 at the Amarillo Civic Center, so it’s the perfect time to outline the ultimate visitor’s guide. Based on attendance to the event both as a spectator and fan, here’s my list of ... More

Shopping List

As the summer winds down into fall, cow works are cranking up. Some folks are shipping yearlings off summer grass. Others are weaning calves and pregging cows. No matter what the individual operation’s pace is, a change in season almost always means a change in the works for the American agriculturalist. For many—... More

Neighborin’ | The WRCA blog

Most ranches have more work to do than they can ever afford to pay to have done. It’s tough to make cows pay for the employees it takes to manage them. Think about an average sized ranch with 250 cows. How can one man brand all those calves? How can one man wean, ship, preg check, all those cows? Most of the year, ranch ... More

Jolly Ranch/S&L Cattle Dominate; The return of Clay Ashurst | The WRCA Blog

A couple weekends ago, I had the sincere pleasure of competing in the Ride for the Brand Ranch Rodeo in Colorado Springs. Our team had some ups and downs—but I don’t think even on our best day we could have stood up to the performance put up by the Jolly Ranch/S&L Cattle team. Jesse Jolly, Dustin Bowling, Nick ... More

2018 World Championship Qualifier Update

After 13 WRCA-sanctioned rodeos, here’s the list of who’s in the 23rd  Annual World Championship Ranch Rodeo in Amarillo, Texas, Nov. 8-11, all in one spot. Also, a quick lineup of the remaining rodeos. More

Top 10 Trail Drive & Early Ranching Books | The WRCA Blog

Books on the cowboy lifestyle and cattle industry are much too numerous to boil down to a definitive Top 10 list. Nonetheless, I’m going to share 10 of my favorite non-fiction books covering the trail drive and early ranching in the West eras. I’d love to see some of your favorites. 10. Prose and Poetry of the Live ... More

Cowboys North and South | The WRCA Blog

The 10 days between June 22 and July 1 proved a hectic and highly stimulating time for me. So much so that I figured it was worth sharing with y’all. On June 22 and 23, our ranch rodeo team was entered in the Colorado Championship Ranch Rodeo in Hugo, Colorado. In addition to the rodeo, the weekend featured a Ranch ... More

The Drought | The WRCA Blog

If there’s one consistent theme I hear from my contacts in cow country, it’s the drought conditions currently affecting a wide swath of the West. Huge chunks of Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico are experiencing “Extreme” or “Exceptional” drought (based on the U.S. Drought Monitor’s latest map). ... More

James Cavender, a Texas Legend

James Cavender, founder of the fastest-growing Western wear chain in America, passed away on Tuesday, May 29 at the age of 87. I had the chance to meet the man once and was thoroughly impressed by his sharp wit and boundless energy for a man in his 80s. I was in Cavender’s corporate offices in Tyler, Texas, and he ... More